A staff member runs through fire during Position Purple training

by James Gelsey
Associate Director, URJ Eisner Camp

“How’s your purple?”

Huh? That was pretty much what the six of us sitting across from security expert Shauli Lev were thinking. We were gathered at Camp Harlam for the URJ’s Camp Safety and Security Officers Training Seminar in April. Before we had left, our colleagues tossed us bits and pieces of what to expect: “Just wait until you have to drag someone out of a ‘burning’ building!” and “Oooh, you’ll get to walk through fire!” As intriguing as those things sounded, no one really could have prepared me for what became an eye-opening, thought-provoking, and unforgettable journey. Sure, we learned how to rescue an unconscious person, and it was pretty cool to walk (and drive) through fire. But those moments were really such a small part of what we learned.

First some background: Shauli Lev is the one of the founders of Position Purple, an Israeli security and training consultancy. Shauli and his team have been working with the URJ camps since 2001, helping us identify ways to strengthen our safety and security protocols and training our camp, Israel, and youth program professionals. This year, Shauli redesigned the training program, and my co-trainees (from west coast to east: Joe Glass from Newman; Solly Kane from OSRUI; Alex Glass from Coleman; Brian Goren from Harlam; Ben Tungland from Kutz; and a special guest appearance by Bobby Harris, Coleman’s Director) and I were the first class to experience it. Which brings me back to Shauli’s opening question: “How’s your purple?”

By “purple,” Shauli meant the way you assess and react to various events that move you (and camp) out of your routine and into a heightened state of awareness, alertness, and even emergency. But the training seminar provided more than just a way to look at camp security. It provided a way to process information and approach decision-making that truly changed the way I think. Some of the key concepts we explored:

• recognizing the stages of moving from routine to alertness to emergency and forward to a new routine
• weighing decisions about whether to prevent, confront, or evacuate from a particular danger
• understanding how shock and panic hamper our decision-making ability
• the need to slow down and consider all options before deciding, acting, and reviewing the effectiveness of the action
• embracing the notion that there are always options, no matter the situation.

We also learned the value of being part of a team, that even though the decision may rest with a single individual, there are people and resources around us who are there to provide assistance, suggestions, and support. We practiced various scenarios as a “response team,” and even today my heart pounds each time I recall these “top table” exercises that brought into clear perspective our roles as the true “first responders” at camp. These activities called upon us to implement the concepts we had learned and required us to act in real-time and make decisions based on an ever-evolving stream of information.

I think that more than anything though, the entire experience taught me that it’s unrealistic to make the best decision possible in a given moment of crisis. Rather, the goal of the training was to give me the confidence to make the best decisions I am able. And it is this realization that has had the greatest impact on me, both as a camp professional and, more importantly, as a parent.

So my “purple” is doing quite well, thank you very much. How’s yours?

We’ve been talking about the Campaign for Youth Engagement since the URJ’s 71st Biennial Convention last December. In the four and a half months since, we’re been working on hammering out the details of this exciting and important campaign, and we want to be sure we’re communicating those details effectively along the way.

So what is it? Quite simply, the Campaign for Youth Engagement is a focused, strategic effort to leverage the full strength and talent of every corner of the Reform Movement to engage and retain the majority of our youth by the year 2020.

Here are a few other things you need to know about the Campaign for Youth Engagement:

1. It’s unlike anything we’ve done before.
   This campaign is marked by its grassroots nature, the longevity of its scope, and the pursuit of a lofty but achievable goal through diverse strategies developed by and for congregations in every geography and of every size. The Campaign will not send out programs to “solve” the youth engagement challenge. Instead, we’ll collaborate to learn together what works in each region, in each community, and in each congregation.

2. It’s about revolutionizing b’nai mitzvah:
   We believe the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony can be a meaningful, vibrant moment in the lives of young Jews and their families, not simply a collection of requirements used to enforce school enrollment and synagogue membership. In 2012-2014, we will launch B’nai Mitzvah Revolution, a joint project of the URJ and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion that will work with a pilot group of 10 Reform congregations to explore new ways of deepening the experience of middle school students and their families as they prepare for and celebrate the rite of b’nai mitzvah. As new ideas and models are developed, we will share the successes and challenges of these congregations through our website and through conferences. For participation in the project’s second cohort, beginning in 2015, we plan to recruit a larger group of congregations.

3. It focuses on Jewish experiences, not just Jewish education.
   We know that the most powerful experiences are hands-on opportunities to build, taste, and explore while nurturing powerful, life-long friendships. Immersive experiences like programmatic weekends, summers, camp, and Israel trips are among the most effective strategies in creating strong Jewish identity. The Campaign will focus on building up and connecting these existing immersive experiences to teens, their families, their congregations, and each other to create a web of interconnected experiences in our youth’s lives. The Campaign will also identify, strengthen, and create a variety of new avenues for youth to meaningfully engage in Jewish life by experiencing Judaism in real-time.

4. It’s not “one size fits all.”
   Though we will provide various resources about the campaign, we will not create a single document that serves as a guide for all congregations. Instead, we will work with congregations and communities to identify the solutions that best suit their unique needs dependent on size, geography, and demographics. This campaign is not about the URJ telling congregations the “right answer.” Rather, we recognize that congregations and communities have differing right answers – and we want to find and develop them together.

5. It’s driven by both professionals and grassroots.
   The Campaign was launched initially by a diverse team of teenagers, lay leaders, synagogue professionals and clergy, camp directors, and HUC faculty members – an unprecedented grouping for the URJ. We’ve combined the best of educational thinking, synagogue transformation, and community organizing to work together as one, ensuring streamlined communication and a true joint effort.

6. It is relationship-centric.
   In 1,000 grassroots conversations with teens, educators, rabbis, youth workers, cantors, administrators, and lay leaders about what engages teens and what does not, one theme stood out: building meaningful relationships and a dynamic and engaged Jewish community is essential for youth and their families to commit to Jewish life. The adults who work with youth (including professional staff and lay leadership) are the primary relationship-builders with our teens and their families. We will invest in the people who do this vital work by providing training, a career path, and a valued staff role, as well as strengthening the status of the field.

7. It was created by congregations and with congregations’ concerns in mind.
   After a decline in congregational confirmation class enrollment and participation in NFTY, a group of rabbis turned to the URJ and said, “We need to do better together.” The Campaign for Youth Engagement was born out of tension between the way things have become and they way we need them to be; among clergy who care deeply about youth engagement and retention but need partners locally and nationally to create new programs to address it; between understanding the need for youth professionals and the ability to hire, train, and retain those staffers. This tension catalyzed the creation of the Campaign and remains an essential component of the partnership between the URJ and its congregations.

8. It goes beyond the Reform Movement.
   We commit to partnering not only within the Reform Movement but also to exploring partnerships with Jewish organizations outside the Movement – as well as with organizations that aren’t explicitly Jewish. We will enter into partnerships that challenge us, support us, encourage us to take risks, and help us to rethink what we do and how we do it.

9. It is the top priority for the Reform Movement’s new administration.
   We commit to prioritizing our youth by building on the millions of dollars with which the campaign was launched so that the effort maintains the financial backing it needs. We will hold ourselves accountable for fulfilling these commitments and will rigorously evaluation of our efforts in order to become as successful and effective as possible

10. You can get involved. Now.
    The Campaign is in the process of transforming from a vision into an on-the-ground strategy around immersive experiences, investing in people who work with youth, and changing the culture of congregations – and we want to hear from you! If you or a team from your congregation have ideas or would like to learn more about each of these strategies, please contact me.

In this week’s Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh, Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the URJ’s Senior Vice President, lays out the ideas behind the Reform Movement’s new Campaign for Youth Engagement, a major effort to bring young Jews (back) into the fold.

[Rabbi Pesner] said 80 percent of the Reform Jewish b’nai mitzva fall away from Jewish life by the eighth grade.

“The crisis is most of those kids will disappear by 12th grade, and they will bring their families out the exit [of the synagogue],” Pesner told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview. “So somehow the bar and bat mitzva has become an off ramp rather than an on ramp, which is ironic because it’s a complete reversal of Jewish history.”

But this crisis, Pesner noted, also poses an opportunity to revamp the movement to engage, not only teens, but young adults before they have kids of their own.

In the piece, Rabbi Pesner explains the four-pronged approach behind the Campaign for Youth Engagement: “retraining youth professionals to show teens how to build their own peer networks; increasing ‘immersive’ experiences such as camping, Israel trips and service projects to pull in more youths; engaging young Jewish adults in their 20s and 30s, outside the synagogue if need be, to help them connect to Judaism before they marry and have kids; and changing the culture of synagogue life.”

The Campaign for Youth Engagement launched to much fanfare at the URJ’s Biennial 71st Biennial Convention in December. You can watch Rabbi Pesner’s Biennial address below, then learn more on our Campaign page, where you’ll find archived webinars on youth engagement, introductions to the Campaign staff, videos from NFTY participants and Reform Jewish professionals about the need to engage teens, and more. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn how you can support the Campaign.

How much does the Campaign for Youth Engagement mean to the Reform Movement? Rabbi Pesner sums it up in the last line of his interview with the Chronicle: “The Jewish future is too much at risk to mess this up. We’re taking it really, really seriously.”

Walking to the subway last week, I saw an elderly man collapse on the sidewalk only a few feet in front of me. Unsure of the severity of the circumstances, I went to his side and realized he appeared unconscious. After he did not come to, I knew this man needed medical attention. I saw a woman on her phone and asked if she was calling 911, which she thankfully already was. I checked his airway, breathing and circulation. He had a pulse and was breathing, but with difficulty.

By this time, a sizable crowd had gathered and started asking questions. I continued to stay with the man until the EMTs arrived six minutes later. At this point he was no longer breathing and an EMT began compressions. They attached an AED, but it did not shock because a pulse was registered. An ambulance took him away and I gave a statement to a police officer.

A week later, I have no way of knowing the fate of that elderly man. My best guess is that he had a stroke, but to what degree I am not sure. I don’t know his name, and I will most likely never know, but I’ve thought of him daily since this occurred.

Even though my role was not gigantic, as the EMTs took control upon their arrival, I still feel I helped this man in this situation entirely because of the safety, CPR and first aid training I’ve received as a result of working at summer camp. In the four summers I spent on staff at URJ Camp Kalsman, and one as a staff member for Mitzvah Corps of the South, a large portion of staff training covered the proper response in emergency situations and what you can do to help. I remembered phrases I’ve heard repeated over and over about how to remain calm and think clearly. Even though I was scared and those six minutes felt like an eternity, I felt confident I knew what to do.

This is one example of how the skills you’re taught and acquire at camp are meant to stretch beyond just the summer. As URJ Camp staff members begin their countdowns to camp, my advice is to keep in mind the lessons of staff training week. Even if you’ve ran through the fire the last five years in a row, remember how training prepares you for what may lie ahead. You never know when the skills you learn at camp will be put to use, even to possibly save a life.

Andrew Paull is the Youth Programs Coordinator at Larchmont Temple in Larchmont, New York. He is excited to spend this upcoming summer as the Head Resident Advisor at the URJ Kutz Camp.

This group of renowned researchers, practitioners and funders are charged with establishing the key questions in studying for the future of leadership in the Jewish educational enterprise.  As the only camp director in the group, Kaye joins in the pursuit of identifying the most pressing issues in this research project which is directed by Dr. Lee Shulman and chaired by Drs. Ellen Goldring and Joe Reimer.  It is a challenging undertaking to provide real direction for better understanding of the field of Jewish Educational Leadership, an area which is vital for the growth of the field and emerging personalities who can move forward in the 21st century.

It is a signal recognition of the success of the Reform Movement’s work in camping and informal education.  Likewise, Jerry, a trained psychotherapist, has been connected to wide exploration in Jewish identity and community achievement.